Charonosaurus
Encyclopedia
Charonosaurus is the name of a genus
of dinosaur
whose fossils were discovered by Godefroit, Zan & Jin in 2000 on the south bank of the Amur River, dividing China
from Russia
.
Charonosaurus is a very large lambeosaurine
hadrosaur (estimated around 13 m (42.5 ft) long), known from a partial skull (Holotype: CUST J-V1251-57 (Changchun University of Sciences and Technology, Changchun
, Jilin Province, China
) found in the Late Maastrichtian
Yuliangze Formation
, west of Jiayin village, Heilongjiang Province, northeastern China. Adult and juvenile hadrosaur remains discovered in the same area and formation likely represent the same taxon and supply information on most of the postcrania
l skeleton; the femur length was up to 1.35 m. (4.5 ft). The partial skull resembles that of Parasaurolophus
and probably had a similar long, backward-projecting hollow crest, indicated by the highly modified dorsal surface of the frontal bone
s. Charonosaurus is one of the largest hadrosaurs currently known from Asia and indicates that lambeosaurines
survived till the very end of the Cretaceous (lambeosaurines are not known from the Late Maastrichtian
in North America).
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
whose fossils were discovered by Godefroit, Zan & Jin in 2000 on the south bank of the Amur River, dividing China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Description
Lambeosaurinae
Lambeosaurinae is a group of crested hadrosaurid dinosaurs.-Classification:Lambeosaurines have been split into Parasaurolophini and Corythosaurini . Corythosaurini and Parasaurolophini as terms entered the formal literature in Evans and Reisz's 2007 redescription of Lambeosaurus magnicristatus...
hadrosaur (estimated around 13 m (42.5 ft) long), known from a partial skull (Holotype: CUST J-V1251-57 (Changchun University of Sciences and Technology, Changchun
Changchun
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
, Jilin Province, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
) found in the Late Maastrichtian
Maastrichtian
The Maastrichtian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the latest age or upper stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series, the Cretaceous period or system, and of the Mesozoic era or erathem. It spanned from 70.6 ± 0.6 Ma to 65.5 ± 0.3 Ma...
Yuliangze Formation
Yuliangze Formation
The Yuliangze Formation is a geological formation in Heilongjiang, China whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.-Vertebrate paleofauna:...
, west of Jiayin village, Heilongjiang Province, northeastern China. Adult and juvenile hadrosaur remains discovered in the same area and formation likely represent the same taxon and supply information on most of the postcrania
Postcrania
Postcrania[p] in zoology and vertebrate paleontology refers to all or part of the skeleton apart from the skull. Frequently, fossil remains, e.g...
l skeleton; the femur length was up to 1.35 m. (4.5 ft). The partial skull resembles that of Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 76.5–73 million years ago. It was an herbivore that walked both as a biped and a quadruped. Three species are recognized: P. walkeri , P. tubicen, and the...
and probably had a similar long, backward-projecting hollow crest, indicated by the highly modified dorsal surface of the frontal bone
Frontal bone
The frontal bone is a bone in the human skull that resembles a cockleshell in form, and consists of two portions:* a vertical portion, the squama frontalis, corresponding with the region of the forehead....
s. Charonosaurus is one of the largest hadrosaurs currently known from Asia and indicates that lambeosaurines
Lambeosaurinae
Lambeosaurinae is a group of crested hadrosaurid dinosaurs.-Classification:Lambeosaurines have been split into Parasaurolophini and Corythosaurini . Corythosaurini and Parasaurolophini as terms entered the formal literature in Evans and Reisz's 2007 redescription of Lambeosaurus magnicristatus...
survived till the very end of the Cretaceous (lambeosaurines are not known from the Late Maastrichtian
Maastrichtian
The Maastrichtian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the latest age or upper stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series, the Cretaceous period or system, and of the Mesozoic era or erathem. It spanned from 70.6 ± 0.6 Ma to 65.5 ± 0.3 Ma...
in North America).